303 (The Mole)
by 2028
Summary: AU Tag to season (3.3). Colby tells David that he is undercover and the fallout affects both of them.
1. Trust

I took some creative liberties with the organization of the Colby's spy network. I also tried to predict David's reaction to Colby telling him he was undercover as a spy and was not an actual spy. I think this should be a trend. Everyone has written about the fallout after the Janus List(David's reaction, Don's, Charlie's, Megan's, Liz's, Alan's, Colby's) but I have not found anyone writing an alternative ending. So, here we go.

Disclaimers:

1.I don't own Numb3rs.

2.I am not particularly interested in politics and was not in any way attempting to comment on official governmental policies.

* * *

"David"

"Hey, Colby". David looked up at his friend before looking back down at the papers in front of him.

"David"

"What?" At second glance, Colby looked on edge and nervous. David knew he had been talking with his Army friend, Dwayne Carter. Maybe memories from the war have been screwing with his head again.

Colby glanced down a hallway then stared pointedly at David and started walking that direction. David stood up slowly, suddenly feeling like the entire office was staring at him. Colby pushed open the door to an empty room and walked in.

"I found Dwayne on the footage from Lee's lobby…" He trained off, the expression on his face making it painfully obvious that this was not an easy topic.

"Yea?"

"He told me that he was going to apartment because he was sleeping with Lee but I could tell he was lying". Colby finished, the words rushing out of his mouth, like he was afraid he would stop talking if he thought about it too much.

"So…" At this point, Colby turned suddenly and looked David directly in the eyes, almost like he was trying to read him. This lasted a full ten seconds, which is a lot longer than it seems when your partner is staring you in the eyes, reevaluating whether he can trust you.

"What, you don't trust me?"

"Well, in about ten seconds you won't trust me". Colby muttered ominously. This alarmed David; it was like a terrible catch phrase from movies

"What are you talking about?" David asked, praying that whatever Dwayne got himself mixed up in, he at least left Colby out of it.

"You know I worked Military CI. Well, Dwayne worked it with me and he is still working it...so am I". Colby paused. He shifted on his feet again and continued to look uncomfortable. He started talking again. "Dwayne has been meeting with Lee for months to pass her information in exchange for money to give to his kid".

David found himself annoyed with Colby's friend, but he was still unclear about what exactly was going on.

"So we arrested him. Solve closed, what's up with you?"

"I said I am still working military intelligence and this is the classified part, the literal if I tell you I will have to kill you part. The DOJ thought the leak was on Don's team. They didn't know about Dwayne. They thought it was one of you, so they…"

David felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal at his government. It was a hard nut to swallow, that someone he had never met considered him capable of selling out his country. Then he refocused, shoving aside his confusion and letting his rational brain think.

"So they send you in to investigate us?" David said after a pause.

"Yes". Colby looked him dead in the eye.

"So this whole time you have been reporting on us for the DOJ".

"Yes".

"And lying to us?"

This one seemed to trip Colby up.

"You are trying to find a explantation so that isn't true".

As least, Colby the decency to look him in the eye when he said "Yes", killing David's faith in his bosses and his bosses' bosses and putting his trust in Colby in question.

Colby started talking vaguely behind the red cloud that was David's vision.

"I am undercover, deep cover, obviously".

"Why are you telling me this now?" David cut off Colby, unwilling to listen to him mutter his way through an explanation.

"Dwayne is down. He was one source of information, but he getting it from someone higher up the chain. It is a network and I am the only one left in a position to bring it down".

"And me"

"What?"

"Colby, you just told me all about the code word clearance mission you have been running. You dragged me into something you are cleared to know, but that will get me throw in federal prison".

"It was worth the risk".

David snorted, disgusted with him.

"So my being in prison doesn't matter to you at all"

"David, I trust you. It took me ten minutes to figure you and the rest of the team could not possibly be the mole. In fact, I need your help, because if Dwayne was compromised, someone else in the mission might be too".

"I didn't ask to be recruited into your spy mission".

"Well, they didn't ask me either".

"So that makes it okay for you to force it on me?"

"No, David". Colby signed, saddened that David could not see the larger implications of this, but also remembering what he felt when he got the mission.

"I didn't betray you, someone high up in the government did. I was undercover, but I never told them anything about you. They hardly know anything about you. Past the first meeting when I told them you weren't a spy, your name never came up".

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" David asked, sounding less angry, but still hostile.

"Yes. I didn't betray you and I trust you. Ball is in your court". Colby turned and walked out of the room, letting the door shut behind him, leaving David alone with his thoughts. He just hoped that David opened it again.

* * *

"So we will what, run around taking down spies and generally spying?" David asked as he jumped into the elevator beside Colby.

Colby looked into David's eyes again and saw a hesitant trust, like David wanted to believe Colby but he needed something to confirm it.

"It is a little more complicated than that, but in layman's terms, yes".

"And yet the laymen know nothing about it". David's words were critical, but his tone was lighter, like an attempt at a joke. Colby had no idea what he did to deserve David's help on this but it was pleasant to walk around without feeling like a fraud to the people he worked with.


	2. Betrayal then Trust

This is a AU of the Janus List, so it has spoilers for the Janus List.

* * *

"You knew".

Don had been studying David for the last ten minutes, trying to figure out why he was not more angry that his partner had been passing information to the Chinese for the last two years.

David had to concentrate not to look down or display any other signs of guilty. He knew that was a lot at stake here. Colby was close to catching the mole in the DOJ and he would be damned if he messed up a two year operation because he could not stand up to his boss' glare. He finally looked at his boss and said "No", but it sounded weak even to his ears.

Don watched David like a hawk, well aware the man was trying to conceal his thoughts, but they went to the same academy and Don could tell that he was lying. Don really hated to believe it, but if David knew about Colby's operation and had not turned him in, he was violating the law also. This can not be happening to my team. I can't possibly being arresting these two men I trust with my life for treason.

Don pushed David forward, saying "Let's go".

They walked down the hall, the subject of everyone's eye. Half the people in the office looked at them with pity in their eyes and the other half looked ashamed to be working with them.

"Do you know what Colby was doing?" Don was leaning close to David now, almost growling in his face. His eyes were livid. Oh man if looks could kill, David would be a splat on the wall.

David did not answer him, just continued to stare into the furious eyes of Don Eppes-the man who gave him his first job in the states, eventually came to trust him, who fixed his mistakes and forced him to become a better agent and person-and watched as the trust formed between them in the last three years crumbled and died.

"Turn around" Don's voice changed, like he had shut down his emotions and was functioning on years of autopilot. A mask of blankness ate up his boss' face and left an expressionlessly person staring at him.

David spun around and let Don't cuff him. Strangely he felt like he deserved it, like it was an appropriate punishment for lying. David knew Don didn't doll out his trust lightly and losing two of his agents in the same day was worst than just shooting him.

"I am not marching you through the office and I am sure as hell not interrogating you. Let someone else rip your life apart" because I can't face that. Don continued the sentence in his head.

Don and David walked down one of the side staircases, David just now noticing how much he was depended on his hands to keep from falling. The handcuffs were shut lightly, Don not being one for suspect maiming, but David could have sworn the metal was burning his wrists.

Don paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned to look at David again. David wanted to tell him, he could feel the words building on the tip of his tongue, but he and Colby had not caught the spy yet and he could not risk the mission. Now Don shoved the door open; David had never seen someone look so defeated.

Don put David outside in the van waiting for Colby. Traitors, Don shuddered to think about that term in relation with his team, were transported to prisons directly without having any extended access to the FBI offices. The guard on the transport looked confused, but Don just shook his head and said "Same charges as Granger". David fought not to keel over under the combined glare of Don and the prison guard.

* * *

Megan looked up and saw Don and David missing. Itching for any reason to get away from Colby, she started towards their desks and headed down the staircase, knowing Don would not want an audience to whatever was happening.

"David too" Don muttered as soon as Megan sat down next to him on the bottom step.

"What?" Megan asked.

"David knew about Colby and never said anything. I just brought him down here".

Megan suddenly felt awkward sitting there next to him, unsure of their partnership. If Colby and David could be down, maybe…

Don seemed to be having similar thoughts and at the same moment, the partners turned to study each other, carefully trying to read emotions in the others' eyes without showing any of their own. This went on for a minute, a year, either could tell, but finally they reached a silent agreement. Don stuck out his hand and Megan shook.

"The world feels like it is ripping apart at the seams". Don nodded at Megan's comment and turned to see someone walking Colby down the stairs. He jumped up and stood with his back to the wall, similar to the way people used to in high school when a universally disliked person walked down a crowded hall. Megan followed suit and so began the most painful staring contest any of them would ever be in. Finally Colby bowed his head, breaking his promise to himself that he would walk out with his head held high. The depth of pain in their eyes burned his chest.

* * *

Colby jumped when the van door opened to reveal his partner sitting there with a hint of a sad grin on his face.

"David"

"Guess you are a better actor".

"Shut up both of you". The agent shoved Colby forward so he slammed his knee into the metal bench before he tumbled down to a stop. Either one of them said a word as the driver locked the back door and started the van.

"Don asked me why I wasn't more angry about what you did and I guess I gave myself away". David sounded...Colby didn't even know a word for the terrible tone his partner was talking in. He sensed guilt and sadness but those words hardly covered what they had put their team through. It felt more like someone had reached into their chests and twisted their hearts into knots.

A long silence filled the van, thick with things unsaid. The anger had not come yet, now it just felt like the weight of the world was pushing them into the earth. The worst part: it felt like them deserved it.

"We are not traitors" Colby eventually admitted.

"It almost doesn't matter; the FBI thinks we are, Don and Megan do". Silence suffocated any reassurance Colby could have thought up.

* * *

It had been two weeks since David and Colby had been revealed and it had been one week since the pity in people's eyes had switched to disgust. Don and Megan had a hard time showing their faces at the FBI for a couple days, during which time the director had ripped apart their entire lives, looking for any connections to the Chinese. Apparently he had not found any, but that hardly relieved the silence that fell every time they walked into a room or the disdain in their coworkers' eyes.

* * *

David and Colby were detained in the same prison in conjoining cell blocks. It was maximum security but they had not been convicted yet, so they were not treated in the same matter other confirmed traitors might be treated.

One day, Colby spotted David during lunch. They were allowed to eat in the same room, but were not allowed to sit next to each other. David had a darker patch of skin near his eye and the eyelid itself looked swollen. It was hard to tell from across the room and against David's skin, but Colby could tell David had a black eye. It can match my bruised ribs Colby thought.

Criminals could agree on only one thing, that one thing being that they hated cops, FBI agents and anyone in a position of authority. They especially hated dirty cops. Meaning the whole prison had it out for David and Colby who had, fortunately for society, unfortunately for them, arrested several of the men they were now locked up with.

Colby sat down, both hands holding the tray in front of him, preventing him from blocking another jab at the bruise on his side. The tray dropped the last three inches onto the table, effectively splashing water all over the food. It was barely worth eating normally but now it was simply disgusting. Colby shoved it away and spilled the remaining water in his glass out onto the table. Everyone around him snickered and slid down a few seats.

David watched the whole scene from a distance, knowing that Colby saw his eye and that Colby himself been injured. He had a careful way of walking that David recognized from the last time Colby had fractured his ribs. David wanted to walk over there, but knew it was against the rules and the last thing either one of they needed was to be labeled as a rule breaker. The pure irony of the situation was that now that they were imprisoned, they could not unearth the traitor and until they did that, they couldn't get out of prison. Regular catch 22.

This dilemma caused problems for another week, during which time David and Colby had no contact with each other. Finally one day all the prisoners were released into the yard after the fire alarm went off. It had to be confirmed before anyone was evacuated as these were not the type of people you wanted escaping during an unnecessary transport.

"So tell me you had nothing to do with this" David almost smiled as Colby walked up to him, after all the prisoners had been dumped together.

"No" Colby sounded the slightest bit amused, so David knew he probably had something to do with the false alarm.

"Hey, don't feel bad partner; I have been in the spy business a lot longer than you". At Colby's words, a group next to them turned and glared, making David and Colby focus again, killing the very small bit of fun either one them had had in the past three weeks.

"What are we going to do? It is not exactly like we can run an investigation from prison and even if we could, no one would help us". David asked.

"One of the many troubles with going to prison to maintain your cover. I was gathering information about one of men above Dwayne; he would have access to all the information Dwayne feed to the Chinese, but that is about all I have on him. We couldn't go around accusing people just because it will help us". Colby said.

"Well we can't stay in prison forever".

"The thing is, if I ended up in prison Kirkland was supposed to clear me eventually. There are a couple people who knew about this, who if something happened to Kirkland, would get me out".

"What about me?" David asked, nervous about what Colby would say, knowing that none of the contingency plans included him.

The look on Colby's face confirmed it. "You are a wild card. No one knew you were helping me. I assumed once we figured it out, no one needed to know your name. Logically, as soon as they know I am undercover, they should release you, because your only crime is withholding information about a spy, but I am not a spy so…".

"That is really reassuring. Thanks Colby". David waved him off when Colby opened his mouth. "So why hasn't Kirkland gotten us out yet?"

At this moment, a couple guards walked up to them, and they both had about three seconds to school their expressions before they were escorted out of the yard.

* * *

Away in DC, Kirkland was staring at a report in front of him detailing the arrests of Granger and Sinclair. Memos in this town did not travel fast enough and this report landed on his desk the day he left town. It was a lousy excuse and he knew that in this case, maintaining operational security had threatened the careers of two agents. Well one agent. Granger was his man, but Kirkland wasn't sure how Sinclair related to it. If he had to guess, he would say that Sinclair had found out about the mission from Granger and when Granger got exposed, Sinclair gave himself away, landing him in prison alongside his partner. Seeing as he had about thirty minutes before everyone knew he was back and bombarded him with work, he left to visit the prison and see his agents.

* * *

"I am here to see Colby Granger and David Sinclair". The guard fixed him with a disapproving look but opened the door and let him in.

"Wait here. They are a little scattered today". Kirkland was left alone in one of the rooms meant for lawyers to visit their clients.

About ten minutes later, both David and Colby were escorted in the room and left with their hands cuffed to the table in front of them.

"Well, it certain took you long enough, sir". Kirkland normally was spoken to with more respect but today, he would let it slid as prison wasn't a bundle of laughs and Granger had been locked up with felonies for the past three weeks.

"Interdepartmental error". Kirkland said.

"So that warrants us being stuck in prison for three weeks, letting the criminals we arrest have free rein?" Colby asked, sounding more than a little angry.

"No, that warrants you being stuck in prison. Care to explain how Sinclair ended up in here?" Kirkland asked.

"We had a case a while back that revealed Dwayne Carter as one of the moles in the DOJ. After we arrested him, Colby told me about his undercover assignment. When he got exposed on the Janus List, Agent Eppes was talking to me and apparently, I didn't look angry enough that my partner was spying for the Chinese. Agent Eppes asked to talk to me and I didn't correct him when he accused me of being involved".

"So you just have knowledge of Granger's assignment and you didn't break mission security because…"

"We had to find the rest of the network". David replied to Kirkland's unfinished sentence.

"That is where I have some good news. I was in China; we got a lead about one of their officials selling information from the mole. One of the other agents on the case caught it. I was finishing up the operational debrief and shutting down the operation." Kirkland finished and laughed at the expressions on faces of his two agents.

"What a Chinese spy in the DOJ, you think you were the only agent working it, Granger?"

"So does that mean we can finally get out of here?" Colby asked, still frustrated that his handler let them spend three weeks in prison.

"Yea, let me straighten out all the paperwork and inform your director. It shouldn't take more than a few days". Kirkland tapped on the room's window to signal he was leaving and walked out before David or Colby could respond to his statement.

They looked at each other. "Well another three days in paradise". Colby remarked.

"Think we will still be allowed to work in LA?" David asked, but before Colby could answer, their guards were back.

* * *

"Eppes, Reeves, my office". The room turned to watch Don and Megan walk to the elevator and follow the director. It was similar to the looks kids would get when they were called over the loudspeaker to see the principal. Even though they had been cleared, everyone gave them a wide berth.

They arrived on the fourteenth floor and walked through another hallway of stares before they reached the Director's office to see...David and Colby sitting there, waiting for them.

They both quieted down when they saw Don and Megan and it was silence until the Director cleared his throat.

"Perhaps I should explain".

Don and Megan sat, Down staring straight ahead and not looking at the two of them. Megan seemed less hostile, but still avoided looking either of them in the eye.

"As you know, there was a mole in the DOJ…"

"Yea, Colby" Don interrupted.

"No, Agent Granger was assigned to find the mole. The DOJ planted him in your team to investigate under the radar".

That took a moment to process, but Megan asked "He's undercover?" She looked at him"You're undercover?"

Colby nodded and glanced at David as Don asked "Any reason I wasn't told about this when it started?"

"When I was originally assigned the DOJ thought the mole was in the LA office. After the first case, we knew it wasn't any of you, but it didn't make sense to switch locations".

Don looked like he was barely hiding his feelings on the subject. All three of his agents knew he would be yelling if he wasn't in the director's office.

"David?" Megan asked, looking right at him.

"Colby told me about his operation after the case with the Chinese interpreter. After he got caught, I didn't know what anyone knew or what was happening with the case, so I just didn't say anything".

For a quick second that sat in the air while the Director pretended to straighten papers on his desk and Don and Megan studied the pair of agents.

"You have got one loyal partner there, Granger". Don sounded resigned. "He went to prison with you".

Colby now felt the weight of that trust. He desperately wanted to be worthy of the second chance David had given him, but felt deemed to failure.

"So what's happens now? Do they stay in LA?" Don asked, recovering quickly, erasing the doubt from his voice. Megan suspected something, she turned her head to watch Don, Colby could see optimistic in her eyes. She wasn't ready to give up yet.

"Do you want them to stay in LA, Agent Eppes? Their paperwork should be cleared in a couple weeks and the undercover op is closed so they can be reinstated."

Don paused. He looked over at Colby and David. They still looked like the men who had his back and this most recent op blatantly demonstrated their loyalty to the FBI and to their partners. He looked at Megan. She turned her head a little and met both David and Colby's eyes, before she looked back at Don. Don looked back at David and Colby. He saw two men who looked and acted so familiar and yet he could sense something was off. Something more than the prison stay or his angry. Colby looked ready with an answer and David looked ready to listen to whatever he said. Don pulled his eyes back to the director.

"Do I have to say right now?"

The director shook his head. "I will need an answer by the time their paperwork is processed".

All four of them walked out together. Don studied them, shook his head regretfully and walked off.

* * *

Megan watched him go for a second and turned to Colby and David.

"What the hell is the matter with you? You were spying on us, but not really because the government we were the leak in the department". Megan started to rant at her former teammates, not one to internal her angry. However, before Colby or David could say a word in their defense, she grabbed them in a hug that she broke off about a second later.

"On that note, I really glad they let you out of prison" She smiled at them. Conflict still swarmed her eyes and made her face difficult to read, but Megan forgave more easily than Don.

"Yea, me too"Colby said carefully, not wanting to provoke the ranting.

"What are you going to do now?" Megan asked. "Do you still want to work in LA? Or the FBI? If I were you I might be done with the system" Megan monitored them toward the elevator, still feeling unusually. The situation created an awkward spot in their relationship, screwing with the trust of a team and their friendship. Megan felt an urge to encourage them or maybe to comfort them, like a parent might. She hesitated though, not entirely sure how they would react to that. Finally, she just talked, deciding that one of them would interrupt her when they had had enough of her bambling.

"The Director ripped our lives apart and did more background checks. I can safely say the federal government knows more about me than I do about myself". She looked back at David and Colby who were following her through the hallway, glancing around as if their were just seeing the building for the first time. She couldn't figure out why they were acting the they were, but she kept talking.

"No one let Don or I near anything related to you two. We have been stuck in cold cases. Maybe that is part of why Don is so pissed". She meant it as a joke, but David and Colby flinched a little at her comment, all three knowing that wasn't what Don was upset about.

"Megan, Don thinks we betrayed him. He had to cuff two of his own agents and charge us with felonies. I'm surprised he didn't rip our heads off when he saw us". Colby answered, his tone challenging her to make another joke out of Don's emotions.

Megan deflated, unable to maintain the happy go lucky routine.

"What happened? Are you really okay?" Megan still had trouble believing anyone could have convinced themselves these two men were really guilty. The possibility of a setup like this had played at the back of her mind, but she never gave herself the luxury of believing.

Colby caught David's eye before he answered. In the days since Colby had told David about the mission, David had been deferred to him on these matters. The undercover had created a little team in the normal team and now that the dynamic was revealed, it was hard to believe it could fade away.

"I'm fine. David?"

"Just hoping to get my day job back". Colby smiled a little at that so Megan recognized the comment as an inside joke. She wanted this to work, she did but now seeing this new trust built between Colby and David, she knew it couldn't happen. The power structure had been irreversibly damaged. Colby held some kind of authority over David on the spy issues and David clearly had no issue with his partner leading the show.

"This can't work" Megan finally said out loud. It was amazing how fast the jokes could fall flat and how quickly awkward silence could fill a space. They had reached their desks… her desk now and she grabbed her jacket before she headed to her car. They still followed her and they still looked like visitors to the building.

Colby and David didn't appear shocked at the statement.

"What do you mean?"

"You two have created a tiny team within the team. It can't be expanded to include Don and I" Megan sounded angry on the surface, but to any person with the any profiling, she sounded sad. Defeated, done, disappointed, desperate for a different answer.

It bothered her and confirmed her point that either one of them corrected her. They settled their sad glazes on her. Colby in particularly looked filled with regret and responsibility but not hopeful and not happy. David had known the second he asked his question in prison, that Don, Megan he and Colby would probably never work together as a team again. He had certainly gained the life long trust of Colby Granger, but they both had lost Don and Megan.

A week later, they were reinstated and re-assigned. Military Intelligence. Deep Undercover. A mini team of two.


End file.
